壊れた人生 – 壊れた人生

Recommendation: ✂ (“ℍUM♥ℕIGHTM♥RE Remix”)

壊れた人生1 is a twenty-minute broken transmission set of TV and/or radio broadcasts mixed as if the antenna is constantly going out as one switches channels, catching signals and static almost equally. Although oddly entrancing in its stark drone, this release is a divisive one: it’s one of those albums in which some will find themselves fascinated by its perversion of what could’ve been mere background music and enjoy trying to identify what these samples might mean, whereas others will be bored out of their minds. Everything is in Japanese, which – for a non-Japanese speaker – makes the voices blend into one another. It’s a good compositional choice because if they were in English, they’d likely be more distracting than anything, as 壊れた人生 creates fifteen to thirty second vignettes that just barely hint at any narrative.

There’s a “remix” by ℍUM♥ℕIGHTM♥RE that’s included with the album if it’s purchased from Cyber Dream Records that cuts down the original run-time by more than half and incorporates some signalwave production screws. Start here, then if you find yourself liking what you hear, move on to the full piece.